1: A Beautiful, Wonderful Trap Continued by alan14 Read 'A Beautiful, Wonderful Trap' first for background, but this is the the story that makes the set something very special. Some marvelous characters here and one, Pixie, that captured my heart completely.
3: The Competition by lordshipmayhem Sometimes I just need to laugh. This story, as well as the others in the universe and the Manatee Bay universe, will do that for me. Every time.
4: Confessions by Ann Douglas Another wonderful story from Ann Douglas. A woman gains the courage to follow her heart…
5: The Ghosts of Christmas Past by Don Lockwood Don Lockwood sweet and romantic, but with an edge. One of my favorite stories by one of my favorite romance authors on SOL.
6: Girl’s Weekend by Kim Little Gentle, affectionate, loving, yet erotic in the end. A marvelous little story of recovery and discovery.
7: Hockey Sticks and Roses by Letoria Wonderful story of the non-sexual relationship between a son and his mother(s). Her description of depression and what kept her going is scary in its accuracy and intensity. This may be the best story that I've read on SOL.
8: I Need to Remember! by Ahaz A lovely, slightly off-kilter, romance between someone who had been an old man and a woman destined to be the fulfillment of his wishes.
9: Ice and Fire by No One Some angst, but not too much. Some sex, but it's not the focus of the story. Self-consciousness, but again not too much. Sounds like one of the better teen romances here. There's just the one difference here...
The author handles Riley's confusion, self-examination and growing understanding smoothly and with humor.
10: Learning Dizyntk (1) by Brian in the Dark Again, the first story in a series of which I recommend the entire series. It's not that the writing itself is phenomenal - it's well done but the sentence structure doesn't do much for me. In this case it's the Dizyntk. They are fascinating and amazingly lovable.
12: Samantha's Secret by Don Lockwood If you like romantic stories you really need to read some of Don's stories. This one is special to me. Each of the main characters has to step out of character, but in a good way, in order for their relationship to work.
13: Shirley Jean by Janna Leonard There's a sense of realism to the writing of this, and all of Janna Leonard's other stories, that is amazing. Shirley Jean just happens to be my favorite or her stories.
14: Swamped Fox by oyster50 This one isn't the typical Oyster50 story, not that that would be a bad thing, but the female involved isn't underage and isn't coming from a bad home life. Mimi is bright, confident, sassy and funny from the get go, think Kim with her aunts' sass added in. And she's not looking to be an engineer!
15: Testing by Quasirandom This one's pretty amazing. The angst, frustration, loneliness, anger and fear of the pandemic period — right there, condensed into less than 5.000 words. That it comes with a budding romance and a very clever hack for anyone hoping to leave their old name behind make it even more amazing.
Damn I hope they make it, even if we'll never know.
16: Twice As Much by black_coffee Gently loving, courageous, compassionate and sexy, though you’ll need to wait til the end for that. Every time I read it, I fall in love with Ginny, Rainey and Lindsay again.
17: Unexplored Territory by Ann Douglas Ann Douglas writes some of my favorite short stories on SOL. This is just one example, but it's a good one.
18: Wet by WTSman I've enjoyed all of WTSman's stories that I've read but this one stands apart as my favorite (followed by 'Odd Job'.) The author, both in this story and in others, has a beautiful way with female characters, though my favorites are not always the female leads his women tend to be, as he says of some of them, competent. High praise indeed.
